Till-alarm



'(M'ddeL) l W. L. CHENEY.

Till Alarm.

Patented March 22,1881.

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- UNITED STATES PATENT ()EEIcE.

WALTER L. CHENEY, OF ORANGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

TILL-ALARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 239,030, dated March 22, 1881.

Application fi1edDecember2, 1880. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALER L. CHENEY, of Orange, in the county of Franklin and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Till-Alarms; and

'I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

. set in an open frame, so as to be movable about their axes, constructed and arranged as will be hereinafter described, which may be set to form secret combinations to guard tills against theft, said studs forming, together with a gravity-catch, a hold to prevent the withdrawal of the till without a knowledge of the combination.

It consists, secondly, in connection with said catch, of a rock-lever, a series of trip-levers, and a series of fingers carrying bell-hammers, operated, as hereinafter described, to produce a succession of blows upon a gong to sound a definite alarm without allowing the till to be opened far enough to expose anything valuable within reach.

It consists, thirdly, in connection with the till and frame supporting it and the shaft upon which the hammer-fingers are fixed, of a device for resetting the alarm mechanism, which resettingis effected by throwing the drawer back to move a compound lever and draw the fingers and hammers to position for a new alarm.

In my drawings, Figure 1 is a plan showing the relation to each other of the principal mechanical parts. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the till, showing the locking and other mechanism. Fig. 3 is a section showing the resetting-lever. Fig. 4 shows details of some of the parts,

Similar reference-letters denote like parts in all of the figures.

Referring to drawings, A A A are studs set loosely in an open frame, B, which forms housings for the bearing parts, and by which they are kept in vertical positions. These studs are squared at their upper ends, and adapted to receive collars B, which may be fixed by means of set-screws a. lindrical in general form, but cut away on two sides at their tops to form two vertical plane surfaces opposite each other.

Above the studs A is a catch, 0, journaled in suitable bearings secured to the frame A,

provided on its under side with open slots of a width corresponding with the heads of the collars fixed upon the studs. This catch at its end is of a barbed form, having a vertical shoulder to bear against the vertical sides of the collars B.

The studs A terminate at their bottoms with cranks, which are connected by rods R with finger-holds F F F, by which said studs are pulled from a normal or holding position to one at an angle of ninety degrees therefrom, in order that theeollars at their heads may pass freely through the slots in the catch 0.

When it is desirable to form a combination one or more of said collars B are adjusted and 7 set so that one each of their vertical faces will present a bearing for the catch 0 to hold against. When the corresponding finger pieces or holds are drawn the studs make a quarter of a revolution each about their axes and bring the vertical faces of their respective collars in line with the slots in catch, through which they may now be freely drawn as the drawer A is opened.

About the studs A are coiled spiral springs D, which are secured at their upper ends to said studs, and at their lower ends to the frame incasing said studs. These springs are coiled when the finger-holds are drawn and the studs revolved, to release the combination, and in the act of uncoiling, when said finger-holds are released, they return their respective studs to a first position.

A rock-lever, E, is pivoted in journal-bearings b, fixed to the frame which supports the 5 drawer. The catch 0 is pivoted to the upper These collars are cy- 55 lever E has a lateral extension, E, which reaches under the extended end of a trip-lever, H, pivoted to a shaft, 0, bracketed to the side of the till. The said rock-lever is held to position by a spiral spring, Gr, which bears between the supporting-frame of the till and the lever E. Trip-levers H H are also journaled on the shaft 0. The trip-levers are provided on their bottoms with notches which serve as bearings to fingers arranged immediately under them.

The fingers I I I are fixed upon a shaft, J, the first firmly and the other two loosely. To these fingers are secured rods provided with hammers h, which, when said fingers are released from the notches of the trip-levers H H H are driven forward against a gong, M, to sound an alarm. The fingers I I l are enlarged at their bases to form collars to encircle the shaft J. Bent rods m are pivoted to these collars at O, and connected to posts a by spiral springsN N N While catch 0 is being withdrawn to lift the trip lever H the spring N will yield until said fingers are fully released, when the hammers will be thrown forcibly against the gong.

The fingers and trip-levers are operated together through certain pins and by the leverarms L L, producing a succession of sounds from the gong, and this is effected in the following manner:- The lever L being pivoted to finger I at point i, when said finger is released the force which carries it forward is also communicated to the lever L, which lifts the triplever H and releases the finger I. As this finger is thrown forward by the force of the spring N the lever-arm L trips the lever H and releases the finger 1 The lever-arms L L are slotted at their upper ends to allow a slight play over the pins 1) 5 before beginning to lift their respective trip-levers to form the interval of time between the blows of the hammers. The shaft J has pins 1 t fixed in it, which engage corresponding pins to a in the collars or enlarged bases of fingers I I, finger I being firmly fixed, as before described, so that when the said shaft is revolved backward after the gong has sounded the fingers will be reset for a new alarm. A device, or y w, which comprises a compoundlever and the revolving disk w, is intended to return the fingers to their normal positions when the till is pushed back in its frame. The said lever .70 3 has its fulcrum in a post, a, and is pivoted to the disk to, which moves with shaft J. When the drawer is pushed back the upper end of said compound lever comes in contact with a stop, V, fixed to the frame of the till, which bears it down and carries the shaft J backward, and with it the pins 2? t, which engage the corresponding pins 20 a previously mentioned. It is apparent that the compound lever, being indirectly attached to the shaft J,

will be raised when said shaft is revolved in the act of sounding the alarm.

' To more fully explain the operation of my device we will suppose the till to be set with finger-hold F. (See Fig.2of drawings.) When it is desirable to open the said till one finger of the hand takes hold of this hold and draws it toward the person. The collar B will be revolved a quarter-revolution to bring it in line with and through the corresponding slot in the catch 0, so that no obstruction will be offered to the free movement of the drawer. It is important, in closing, that the till A be pushed entirely back to-set the fingers and hammers of the alarm arrangement should they inadvertently be down.

In closing the till it is not necessary to keep hold of the finger-holds, as the barbed end of the catch 0 will be lifted automatically as soon as the studs reach it. As soon as the finger-holds are released the springs D return them to their places, as previously described. If no keys or any out of the combination be pulled it is obvious that the collars corresponding with the slots will be held by the vertical shoulder of the catch 0, and upon continuing to draw said catch will influence the rock-lever E, which will raise the trip-lever H to release the finger I. Said finger being thrown forward by the movement of the till the other fingers are tripped in succession and the alarm is sounded to arrest the attention of the proprietor. The till A being now pushed entirely back, the hammers are restored to their places through the influence of the returning device 00 y w, &c., and the drawer is again set for another alarm.

The till A is provided at its sides with projecting cleats adapted to slide in and outupon corresponding rabbeted pieces fixed to the frame A, which, in fact, will be a table or counter.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the studs A, provided with adjustable collars B, fixed thereon, and slotted catch 0, whereby the till may be secured upon any desirable combination, which may be solved by the withdrawal of finger holds or keys corresponding, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of catch 0, journaled in suitable bearings secured to frame A, provided on its under side with slots formed in its barbed projection, rock-lever E, trip-lever H, finger I, provided with a suitable hammer, spring N, and rod m, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The trip-levers H H H journaled upon a shaft fixed to the till, lever-arm L L, and fingers I I 1 with suitable pins connecting said trip-levers with fingers, in combination with lever E and pulling device N m, for throwing the bell-hammer, as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of studs A, collars B, catch 0, rock-lever E, a series of trip-levers, H H H levers L L, bent rod m, and spring N, all arranged substantially as and for the In testimony that I claim the foregoing as purpose set forth. my own I affix my signature in presence of 5. The resetting device composed of levera: two Witnesses. 3 disk W, and carrying the rotating fingers WALTER L. CHENEY. 5 and hammers fixed on shaft J, in combination Witnesses:

with a till and a frame supporting it,.as and RUFUS D. CHASE, for the purpose set forth. JOHN R. BEMENT, 

